A weekend of travel tragedies

By Steve Almasy and Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

Updated 7:33 PM ET, Mon July 29, 2013

Photos: Deadly bus crash in Italy10 photos

Deadly bus crash in Italy – Workers remove the wreckage of a bus on Monday, July 29, near Baiano, Italy. The bus was returning pilgrims from a weekend visit to a Catholic shrine when it went off a bridge in southern Italy on Sunday, July 28, killing dozens of passengers, including some children, officials said.

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Photos: Deadly bus crash in Italy10 photos

Deadly bus crash in Italy – A firefighter inspects the wreckage on July 29.

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Photos: Deadly bus crash in Italy10 photos

Deadly bus crash in Italy – Police inspect the site of the crash on July 29.

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Photos: Deadly bus crash in Italy10 photos

Deadly bus crash in Italy – Rescuers prepare coffins for victims of the crash on Sunday, July 28.

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Deadly bus crash in Italy – The bus lies on its side after plummeting off the bridge on Sunday, July 28.

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Photos: Deadly bus crash in Italy10 photos

Deadly bus crash in Italy – Rescuers climb over the overturned bus as they try to free passengers.

The driver told witnesses that the vehicle's brakes failed as he was trying to make a left turn, an Indianapolis Fire Department spokeswoman said.

The bus ended up on its side on a concrete road barrier, with luggage and other debris strewn on the roadway.

"I saw bodies everywhere, kids in shock and disbelief," said John Murphy, who had stopped along the northern Indianapolis road where the bus crashed.

The bus was returning from a camp in Michigan, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said.

Bus packed with pilgrims plunges off bridge in Italy

A bus returning pilgrims from a weekend visit to a Catholic shrine in southern Italy plunged off a bridge into a wooded area, leaving at least 38 dead.

The bus was traveling east of Naples in Avellino province, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Avellino police official Pasquale Picone said the bus struck 11 cars on the road before falling off the bridge, leading police to suspect the bus had brake problems. But the exact cause of the accident remains unknown.

Photos from the scene showed a broken guardrail and the bus lying on its side.

Lindsey Stewart, the bride-to-be, and Mark Lennon, who was to have been the best man in the wedding party, and disappeared late Friday when a 21-foot Stingray power boat they were passengers on slammed into one of three construction barges strapped together near the Tappan Zee Bridge, 25 miles north of Manhattan.

New York authorities are trying to piece together what went wrong.

"We're looking into every single thing," Rockland County, New York, Sheriff Louis Falco said. "What we're going to do is bring in an accident reconstruction team."

Five people, including a child, died in the crash, the county's coroner said.

The Robinson 66 chopper departed from Tri-Cities Airport in Endicott, New York, and was headed to Jake Arner Memorial Airport in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. Federal officials said earlier it had come from Greater Binghamton Airport.